Tillman Hall

National Register Listing

Street Address:

Oakland Ave., Winthrop College campus, Rock Hill, SC (York County)

Alternate Name:

Main Building

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817746007

Description and Narrative:

Completed in 1894, Tillman Hall (originally Main Building) has served as the focal point of the Winthrop College campus since the school’s opening session in 1895. Winthrop was the first state-supported college for women in South Carolina. One of the few remaining examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the state, it is also one of the most outstanding. The firm of Bruce and Morgan from Atlanta designed Tillman Hall and the Thompson Decker Construction Company of Birmingham built the building with labor provided by convicts from the South Carolina State Penitentiary. The building is constructed of red, pressed brick, laid in a bond entirely of stretchers. It is three stories high and includes a basement and attic. The roof is a combination of a gabled and hipped configuration. It is covered with slate and copper with galvanized iron cornices. The building features dramatic semicircular and elliptical arches with radiating voussoirs and keystones, a bracketed belt course, projecting bay windows, a Sullivanesque-style frieze and floral motifs, a native granite foundation, a conical-roofed clock tower with open belfry, and elaborate interior wood and plaster work. In 1962 Main Building was renamed Tillman Hall. Benjamin R. Tillman, Governor and U.S. Senator, was an early advocated of a state-supported college for women. Listed in the National Register December 2, 1977.

Period of Significance:

1894

Level of Significance:

State

Area of Significance:

Education;Architecture

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

December 2 1977

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